


Pas de Deux

by Hellas_himself



Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [4]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elriel, The Nutcracker, elriel christmas playlist, holiday au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellas_himself/pseuds/Hellas_himself
Summary: probably the cheesiest of all of them tbh
Relationships: Elain Archeron/Azriel
Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571347
Kudos: 10





	Pas de Deux

**Author's Note:**

> probably the cheesiest of all of them tbh

Azriel unlocked the door to the house, smiling as he heard the music playing in the house. He set his coat aside and closed the door, following the music until he found his wife, twirling around the kitchen as she cooked dinner. He leaned against the doorway, listening to her hum along to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy- one of her absolute favorites.

“Good to see one of us hasn’t forgotten how to dance,” he said by way of greeting. Elain paused mid-step, looking at him as if she hadn’t meant for him to see her dancing.

“You’re home early,” she said and with one final twirl, walked over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around him.

“That was adorable,” he said and she laughed.

“It’s my favorite,” she said with a shrug.

“I know.”

He kissed her; once, twice before she shoved him out of the kitchen.

“Go wash up. You smell like work.”

He laughed, raising his hands in surrender. 

When they were in high school, Elain had gotten the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. She had been beside herself, especially since it left Ianthe as an extra as one of the mice. For months, Elain had practiced after school with her friends and sometimes, he would help her. He had taken up ballet to help with football in middle school and had kept it up after that. 

Two weeks before the play was scheduled to premier in school, Rhysand had broken his arm in an “accident”. When Lucien had shown up at school with a busted lip, Rhys had gone after Tamlin. Tamlin was absent for a long, long while recovering from the ass whooping Rhys had given him, although to this day, everyone said Cassian had joined in. But Az had always believed that Feyre had jumped in. Az had always put his money on Feyre.

Az hadn’t known about the possibility of Eris replacing Rhys as the Nutcracker. He had gone to practice as he always had and before he had even warmed up, Elain had asked if he would help her with one of the dances. And of course, he had said yes. He ignored everyone in the room, even the instructor, as they danced together. He’d watched Rhys dance with her for so long he had a general idea of what was required of him. When it came time to lift her up, she had laughed the whole time as he spun her around the way Rhys had been doing in practice. And once he’d set her down on her feet, their instructor had told him he’d gotten the part of the Nutcracker.

“I’ll make it up to you later,” was all she’d offered before walking over to where Eris had been standing and flipped him off. Lucien’s older brother had been livid. Azriel had wanted to be mad about her signing him up for the part without asking, but he didn’t trust Eris to do anything right, and he hadn’t wanted him touching her- he barely wanted him looking at her.

So Az spent those two weeks with Elain and Rhys every day after school, learning what had taken Rhys months to accomplish. And though he’d been horrified of dancing in front of the entire school, the first time he and Elain had danced the Pas de Deux, it had been as if nothing else existed but her.

So it was only natural that on the day of their first wedding anniversary he would present Elain with something to fulfill the ‘paper’ aspect of the day. She had simply laughed at the ridiculously intricate envelope… until she saw the two tickets inside. Her brown eyes went wide and for a moment, she looked like she was going to cry.

“Happy Anniversary,” he said softly.

“I thought these were sold out!”

“Diligence was key.”

She rolled her eyes even though she was smiling.

“And the seats! And it’s tonight?”

Before she could even panic, Az put his hands on her shoulders.

“I have it all taken care of.”

“You do?”

Az stood outside the closet as Elain went to go find his second gift. When she screamed, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Where did you get this?” she asked, carrying out the dark blue gown he’d gotten her. It was strapless, with a rather long train. Before he answered her, he went into his dresser drawer and rummaged through it.

“I forgot about these.”

Earrings and a necklace to match the dress.

“Babe! This is too much!”

“Hey, you made me the happiest man in the world,” he said as he approached her. He set the gown on the bed before pulling her into his arms. “And I love you more than anything.”

Elain really looked about ready to cry.

“Well,” she said with a sniffle, “Help me get ready. I don’t want to be late.”

*

This was the first time Az had watched The Nutcracker in person. They’d watched the movies at home, and Elain played the music all year long… But seeing it before his eyes was surreal. Elain was wholly engrossed in the play, and watching her was just as rewarding as the play itself. He was surprised she hadn’t stood up to join them.

And when they danced to the Pas de Deux, Az had tears in his eyes. He’d fallen for her dancing to this song, and when he looked at her, he knew she was thinking the same thing.

*

They didn’t bother going to dinner.

*

Lying in bed, Az started to laugh.

“Well… I’m starving,” he said. Elain laughed, getting up and finding one of his shirts.

“It’s too late for take-out, right?”

“Think so.”

“Would you mind heating something up? I want to get your anniversary present.”

“This wasn’t my present?” he asked, propping himself up on his elbows. Elain rolled her eyes.

“Do you want your Christmas present first, or your anniversary present first?”

Azriel sat upright.

“What kind of question is that?”

“Hm, I guess you’re right, nosy.”

Elain disappeared into the closet and he heard her mumbling to herself. Heard something fall from the top shelf and her curse before she walked out holding two boxes. She got back into bed, sitting in front of him and handing him the smaller box.

“Christmas.”

“You know me so well,” he said as he began to undo the ribbon. He set that aside as he went to take off the lid and raised a brow. “What’s this for?”

“Well, you get plenty headaches as it is… I figured you’re really going to need it.”

She offered him the other box, which he shook. Nothing. It was light. Elain laughed when he undid the ribbon and took off the lid. He had to remove a shit ton of tissue paper which only made her laugh even more. But it was worth it-

It was a picture of them when he had come back from tour overseas, when he finally had the courage to tell her how he felt. Those years away from her had been horrible. The things she had gone through… He set those thoughts aside, looking up at her and smiling. They were together, nothing else mattered.

“There’s more.”

It was a picture of them in high school, dancing the Pas de Deux. He had never seen it before, but he knew exactly which position they were in, what part of the song it was.

“I’ve never seen this before,” he said quietly.

“It never made it into the school paper… So I kept it.”

He smiled, getting ready to set the box aside.

“Babe, keep going.”

“Oh.”

The next thing was what looked like the playbill to their school show but it wasn’t. He saw their names on it, but the play was set for the summer… Except it wasn’t a play. It was…

He had to remember how to breathe. Az looked up at Elain who just nodded, motioning him to continue. Behind that card was a little pair of black ballet slippers because…

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yes.” She was beaming.

Az looked back at the little slippers again as tears blurred his vision.

“You’re pregnant.”

Az set it all aside and quickly went to embrace his wife. She laughed, wrapping her arms around him.

“Happy Anniversary,” she said. “I love you.”

“God, this feels like a dream,” he said.

“There’s only one thing that would make me happier.”

“And what would that be?” he asked.

*

In nothing but pajamas, Azriel and Elain danced the Pas de Deux. It felt as if he were retracing his steps, going back to where it all began; a song that only lasted minutes, but carried with it fifteens years of love and happiness. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is the song and dance mentioned in this fic ;) 


End file.
